Gary Neville has warned Erik ten Hag faces sack at Manchester United, with the Dutchman set to face the same destiny of his predecessor because of the club’s rudderless approach.
United were dumped out of the Carabao Cup after losing 3-0 at home to Newcastle on Wednesday night just three days after losing to Manchester City by the same scoreline.
Ten Hag has now overseen United’s worst start to a season since the 1962-63 campaign and the club have lost five of their first 10 home games at Old Trafford for the first time since 1930-31.
United finished third in the Dutchman’s first season in charge and ended a six-year wait for silverware, but they have drastically regressed this term with ten Hag seemingly unable to stop the rot.
“Last night we saw the Theatre of Dreams turn into the Theatre of Nothing. Every single United fan bored and flat,” Neville wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
“On the pitch the players in shock, the performances woeful and a manager struggling in front of our eyes.’
And the former United right back warned the run of dismal results could spell trouble for ten Hag.
“We’ve seen it before, we know how it ends and we’ve had enough,’ he added.
The Dutchman is United’s fifth permanent manager since Sir Alex Ferguson retired after winning the Premier League in 2013.
David Moyes’ ill-fated spell at Old Trafford lasted nine months, while Louis Van Gaal was unceremoniously defenestrated after two seasons, despite winning the FA Cup in 2015.
Jose Mourinho delivered two trophies, but was sacked halfway through his third season with United 19 points behind the league leaders after just seven wins in 17 Premier League matches.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer replaced the Portuguese on an interim basis in December 2018 and was installed as permanent manager four months later.
In July 2021, just two months after United lost the Europa League final on penalties against Villarreal, the Norwegian signed a three-year contract extension.
However, he was gone within four months after United racked up just 17 points from their first 12 league games of the season and was replaced on an interim basis by Ralf Rangnick.
Neville believes ten Hag’s struggles can be traced back to a lack of football structure at Old Trafford.
“In the last two matches Manchester United have played two clubs that have installed proper football departments to support the team on the pitch and off it,’ he said.
“The complete opposite of United. We haven’t got a sporting director.”
